How Parramatta big man Junior Paulo won the battle of the bulge

Junior Paulo has struggled to keep his weight down through his entire NRL career. But now the big man doesn’t just have it under control, he’s found a new lease on life and football.

Junior Paulo during Parramatta Eels training ahead of their match against Canberra. Picture. Phil Hillyard

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If you were in the Parramatta Eels ‘Fat Club’ over summer, training started each day at 6am.

Except for Junior Paulo.

“I had to be there 30 minutes before even that,” he grins. “I was in the faaaat, Fat Club.”

Sounds intense?

“Hardest part was waking up at four o’clock in the morning — every morning,” Paulo continues, the smile gone. “It was a battle just getting to training on time.”

And still, the big unit did.

Every session.

Which is when this returning Parramatta behemoth — a fella who initially greeted coach Brad Arthur before Christmas weighing 133kg — would then be ordered to sweat buckets on treadmills, exercise bikes, heavy bags, focus mitts, rowers, whatever.

All up, dropping nine kilos in roughly 12 weeks.

And still, it isn’t exactly breaking news, right?

For just as Mitchell Pearce once had a mortgage on NSW Origin stories, and Todd Carney redemption stories, so Paulo seems forever tied to yarns about whether that frame of his will spend the season increasingly stretching NRL defences, or his jersey.

And sure, there’s been a few other good ‘uns along the way.

Like his playing third grade rugby with Oatley in 2016, disguised by nothing but blue headgear. Or weeks later, being completely exposed by that now infamous restaurant happy snap inside The Star — one which saw himself, Corey Norman and James Segeyaro all warned by the NRL for consorting with criminals.

Yet mostly, Junior’s story is about a body that is anything but.

Which is why when Paulo returned to the Eels this year on a deal worth almost $3 million, nobody seemed sure if the club was getting itself a genuine big money saviour, or simply disappearing again down that wormhole all Kieran Foran, Anthony Watmough, even Englishman Lee Mossop.

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A truth the big fella had to know, right?

“Ummmm, no,” Paulo insists.

Really?

“I don’t read much footy stuff,” he continues, seated now with League Central outside Eels HQ.

“Coming back to Parramatta, obviously I’ve wanted to perform individually.

“But one of my biggest goals is to also become a leader for this side. And while we’re only five rounds in, I feel like I’m doing that.”

Isn’t he what?

Despite opening the year in rugby league’s first ever Faaaat Fat Club, Paulo is now starring at a streamlined 124kg.

Apart from averaging 58 minutes per game — or his most ever in the NRL — the hulking No. 10 is also hitting PBs for offloads and tackles made, while giving Parramatta a punch to rival those which rocked, and almost dropped, Paul Gallen in his 2016 boxing debut.

“Athletically, Junior is incredible,” says Justin Fitzgerald, the leading Sydney fight trainer who prepared Paulo for said bout.

Paulo once fought Paul Gallen. Picture by Craig Greenhill.

“When we started working together, I had real concerns.

“Because while Gal already boasted five professional appearances, and was ranked fourth among Australian heavyweights, Junior had never even fought.

“But when he’s focused and the weight falls off ... yeah, he’s an animal.”

Despite starting preparations only seven weeks out from the bout, the striking coach for Australia’s UFC champ Robert Whittaker got Paulo down to 119.5kg.

“Or the lightest he’s been,” Fitzgerald laughs, “since age 12.

“And that’s because in those seven weeks, Junior never missed one day.”

Instead, the only thing to buckle were sparring partners.

“Dropped a few of them, yeah,” the trainer adds.

Just as Paulo is again now.

Not only more phat than fat, but finding the type of form that, according to coach Arthur, all stems from a promise made to every Eels player on arrival.

“During pre-season, and based on advice from our team, we made an agreement with Junior to get to 125kg by the season opener,” Arthur explains.

Paulo made a commitment to his teammates to stay under 125kg. AAP Image/Rohan Thomson.

“And even though he wasn’t playing due to injury, he kept it. Has remained at that weight, too.

“It’s why everyone here is so proud of him.”

Which matters.

“In the past, there’s been times I’ve let teammates down,” the 25-year-old concedes. “Like after representing Samoa at the 2017 World Cup, I came back to Canberra weighing 140kg.

“It was the heaviest I’d ever been. A dark time.”

But now?

“Now,” he says, “I’m learning about discipline”.

And part of that, Paulo credits to those 4am wake up calls.

Same deal his new leadership goals.

Just as another motivator also arrived into the world early Tuesday morning -- in the shape of a new baby girl.

Already proud parents to Mario-Cade and Rosalina, Paulo and wife Mele welcomed their newest child only days out from this week’s hyped Easter Monday clash against Wests Tigers at the new Bankwest Stadium.

Paulo got up to 140kg at one stage at Canberra.

“And as every parent understands,” Paulo says, “from the moment you wake up each morning, they’re your purpose”.

Indeed, asked now how he differs now from that footballer who quit Parramatta three years ago, the prop continues: “They say with age, comes maturity.

“And moving to Canberra, it wasn’t just something I needed, but something I’ll always be grateful to (coach) Ricky Stuart for.

“Apart from getting out Sydney, I also needed an unfamiliar environment.

“That move was a chance for my partner and I to stand on our own two feet, away from family.”

And as for his new leadership role inside the Eels pack?

“It’s definitely something I’m unfamiliar with,” he concedes. “Because I’ve never looked at myself as a leader.

“But it’s a role I’m working hard to embrace.

Even now, Paulo still does extra cardio training. Picture by Richard Dobson.

“Brad and I, we’ve had some strong conversations about teams needing somebody to lead, about then needing someone to stand up.”

And to stand up, Paulo needs the weight down.

Which leads us to wondering exactly where the big fella might sit were he not playing elite sport?

“Ah, tough one,” he grins.

“But those early starts over summer, they’ve really taught me discipline.

“Even now, I’m still arriving at six o’clock each morning to be part of a group that does extra cardio.

“So who knows?

“I’ve actually seen a lot of guys who retire, then do more training than even when they played.”

And as for you being one of them?

“Ah no,” he grins. “Probably not”.

Originally published as How Parramatta big man Junior Paulo won the battle of the bulge